Haptic feedback provides for a new modality of sensing and enhances human experiences in many applications. Kinesthetic force feedback is desired, for instance, in situations where force feedback effects are provided in an interactive (or dynamic) manner, such as flying/driving applications, medical simulations, gaming, virtual reality environments, and consumer electronics.
FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a conventional method for generated kinesthetic force feedback effects. Flowchart 100 includes determining a position of a manipulandum (e.g., a joystick), as recited in step 110; computing force feedback effects associated with the position, as recited in step 120; and outputting a force signal to an actuator coupled to the manipulandum that renders the computed force feedback effects, as recited in step 130.
In the above, the amount of time it takes for computing the force feedback effects in the step 120 constitutes a delay in outputting the force feedback effects associated with the current position of the manipulandum. This computational delay can significantly compromise the stability, robustness and temporal accuracy of the underlying force feedback system.
A need thus exists for minimizing the computational delay and enhancing the stability and performance of kinesthetic force feedback systems.